The system produces ethylene, an important ingredient of many plastics, with much higher efficiency, yield and longevity than competing systems.
The system produces ethylene, an important ingredient of many plastics, with much higher efficiency, yield and longevity than competing systems.
A key step toward reusing CO2 to make sustainable fuels is chaining carbon atoms together, and an artificial photosynthesis system developed at the University of Michigan can bind two of them into hydrocarbons with field-leading performance.
The system produces ethylene with efficiency, yield and longevity well above other artificial photosynthesis systems. Ethylene is a hydrocarbon typically used in plastics, so one direct application of the system would be to harvest carbon dioxide that would otherwise be vented into the atmosphere for making plastics.
“The performance, or the activity and stability, is about five to six times better than what is typically reported for solar energy or light-driven carbon dioxide reduction to ethylene,” said Zetian Mi, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Michigan and corresponding author of the study in Nature Synthesis.
Read more at University of Michigan
Image: The experimental setup in Zetian Mi's lab where his team prepared an artificial photosynthesis device that can turn carbon dioxide and water into ethylene, in a step toward making solar fuels. Yuyang Pan shines a light on the device. (Photo Credit: Silvia Cardarelli, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Michigan)
